Recently, a new kitchen appliance appeared on my FYP. The Ninja Creami—a machine released last year that promises to make a substance reminiscent of a DQ Blizzard out of basically anything—has taken the “healthy” dessert algorithm by storm. Influencers in yoga pants can be seen pouring protein powder on top of protein-enriched milks on top of protein-packed yogurt and whirring it up into a fluffy cloud of…more protein than the human body is actually capable of absorbing at one time. I thought all of this was pretty dumb, so I promptly watched more videos. I saw people making ice cream out of canned peaches, almond milk, Fruity Pebbles, old socks, probably. My entire TikTok algorithm just became the Creami.
The only natural next course of action was to give up, call myself influenced, and purchase the machine. Over the course of a couple of weeks “Can it Creami?” became a regularly asked question around my house, and the answer was usually yes. Well, usually, provided you know some tricks and tips I learned along the way. For the scoop on the as-seen-on-TikTok wonder, read my Ninja Creami review below.
Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream Maker
What is the Creami?
The Creami is not quite an ice cream maker, because it has no cooling mechanism (frozen ice block or mechanical). It’s also not quite a blender; there are no variable speed settings and you’re certainly not making soup in this thing. It’s a Franken-device that uses “creamify” (that’s the actual name they use, sorry) technology to “break down a uniformly frozen block into an incredibly smooth texture in minutes,” according to Ninja’s website.
Really, the Creami uses technology that was previously only available in a very expensive and not-widely available machine called the Pacojet. Both the Creami and the Pacojet have a bit attached to a blade, which spins as it slowly moves into the frozen block of liquid. Essentially, the blade drills into the ice, shaving off fine pieces and whipping them together until the whole thing forms a creamy texture. The Pacojet was used in restaurants a lot during the molecular gastronomy era, with the idea that it could offer sorbets and ice creams with more pure produce flavor, since you could make the frozen dessert straight from the fruit itself, withe fewer added base ingredients.
After using one for weeks, I can confirm that this much more affordably priced machine can turn frozen blocks of liquid and fruit into a creamy texture. Hovering around $180 at the time of writing, the Creami is not cheap by any measure, but compared to a compressor-based ice cream maker, it’s a steal. (And it can whip smoothie bowls, shakes, and sorbets together too).
How it works
This is, in fact, one of the easiest possible ways to make ice cream because you don’t need to do any prep or buy any special ingredients. Traditional ice cream starts with a crème anglaise, which involves tempering egg yolks into cream for a custard before that’s chilled andthenchurned. With the Creami, you simply pour your liquid base in (milk, yogurt, puréed frozen fruit), freeze it for 24 hours, and then hit a button. Ninja’s website hosts plenty of recipes, and the brand sells a companion cookbook. Most recipes are under five ingredients. There are even some single-ingredient recipes (fro-yo is as simple as freezing your favorite yogurt), and some famous ones (Disneyland’s Dole Whip).
